From one cliffhanger to another…If you can’t take waiting, you might wanna wait until 23 comes out, because this cliffhanger is a real doozy. Not that I really care since I usually forget about cliffhangers 2 minutes after watching something. Knowing how this ends because of the game helps too.

Well it’s that time of week again and instead of doing anything productive, I’m currently being distracted by Harvest Moon. …I mean, it’s a game about farming. WHY IS THIS SO ADDICTING? A-anyways, on to Persona.

VR. So after desperately chasing after Nanako inside the TV, the team finds that Nanako’s world looks like heaven. That thought is cut short though since they see Namatame off with Nanako and they chase after them. Not long after, they catch up and Namatame goes on a rant about how he’s going to save Nanako. The team tries to make sense of his babbling, but all he says is that he wanted to save everyone since the TV would send him signs. He then lifts her up kind of like the first scene from the Lion King, only 100 times creepier and he himself transforms into a Shadow.

SIMBAAAA!!

In rage mode, Yu runs to attack Namatame, but he suddenly stops and attacks his teammates instead. Instead of realising the obvious fact that Yu is being controlled, the team just sits there being attacked, wondering what’s wrong. Rise figures out what’s going on and informs the team, but Yu is pretty much the master of Persona, so nothing they do works. However, the power of Nanako prevails and Yu is freed from Namatame’s control slightly. Yu saves Nanako from an untimely fall and everything is good again. …However, now Namatame takes control of Yu’s friends instead and they all attack him which results in a giant explosion. However, all is well because Yu is saved by Shenron from Dragonball a new Persona, Kohryu. Kohryu lifts Namatame’s control on everybody else and together they defeat Namatame.

When they get out, Nanako isn’t doing too well since the fog and being exposed directly to Shadows probably wasn’t that good for her. Nanako is hospitalized and so is Nanatame. Naoto really regrets putting the case before Nanako’s health, but Yu is bro and thanks her for being there. At school, Naoto talks more about it with Yu and says that she just wanted to be needed, so that’s why she put her all into the case. Adachi mentions that Namatame was seen making passes at Saki Konishi before she died too. Though angry, the team is finally done the investigation.

Quality scale from left to right where 10 is Yu and 1 is Aderpchi

Besides Nanako, other things aren’t well though. It’s really foggy in the real world and the glasses make things clear, which means that the fog from the TV is somehow leaking out from there. People are acting paranoid all over as well. Kuma is really worried about Nanako and asks if he can stay in the real world until she recovers, but Yu says that he can stay there forever. With that newly strengthened friendship in mind, the team goes to buy a kotatsu since Yu promised Nanako that they could buy one.

Let’s wash away all the terror with the sweet honey of materialism.

…However, midway through that, Yu gets a phone call from the hospital about Nanako’s condition. The team gets there and we witness a heartbreaking scene of Yu being there for Nanako’s final moments. Dojima doesn’t even get there on time to say goodbye.

Hospital Charts:

Giant lightning bolt sword, flyswatter…, ehhh, close enough.

“Um, do we make out now?” “My sister is in the hospital.” “…so, tomorrow, then?”

Teddie, this is not the time for the “lol wakarimasen” meme

Kids, read every day! It’s fun, makes you smarter, and has a slight chance of teaching you an instant death spell!

End Thoughts:

That was a really odd, frankenstein-like episode of scenes that were seemingly cobbled together without any rhyme or reason. The first half was for getting Nanako back, which was fine, but the second half was all over the place. It’s hard to focus on any one scene and become immersed in the conversation when all of the conversations are shallow and short. I’m glad they finished Naoto’s social link, but it was boiled down to a round-up where she explicitly says “Oh look how much I have grown!” to make up for the lack of us actually seeing her grow and acknowledge her efforts ourselves. Then there’s the rapid switching between the hospital, Junes, and school. Lastly, and most noticeable of all is the increase in fog. In the game, you play every day without suddenly springing forward in time, meaning you gradually grow suspicious of the fog. It starts off as just a bad stretch of foggy weather before people even think about getting worried. People falling ill and extremists in gas masks only come after the fog persists for an unreasonable amount of time. The sense of dread quietly takes you over whereas in the show…BOOM! CRAZY PEOPLE! I had to laugh at how sudden it was in the grand scheme of things. It’s crunch time, and 25 or so episodes doesn’t seem to be enough to keep up with all this content. I keep flip-flopping over whether I think the ending will be rushed or not, but episode 22 has me a shade more pessimistic than I was before. So I’m in the…dark gray zone…I suppose.

The directing really irked me this week as well. The battle was pretty dull – mostly because it’s the same old tricks (and even the same animation footage being reused). Yu overcame the boss twice because of hearing voices. HEARING VOICES. One of them wasn’t even there, he was just hallucinating! Oh, if only schizophrenia symptoms came in handy in more situations. If only! They’d better switch it up for the last battle, because the persona rotating is officially boring. If they had a higher budget, it would be awesome, but I think they’re breaking piggybanks open just to finish this thing. T_T This week featured more cuts than usual to inanimate objects. When Naoto is pouring her heart out, I think I’d rather stare at her than her fingers. Furthermore, please do not pan up and down an IV drip when I am trying to decipher whether or not a main character is dying. Dying offscreen is reserved for two-bit side characters. I mean, you already focused on her ring breaking for an eternity as she was falling. Symbolism fail :/

Basically, this episode was a mess. The only highlights were Nanako dying and Naoto’s adorable blushing. I know it sounds weird to say Nanako dying was the most joyous feature of the episode, but…well…it was. This was the only time I actually felt the drama. This was a very intense and gripping moment in the game, and I think the anime did a fairly good job getting that across. Aside from the IV drip screentime which, yeah, I snickered at. I’m not heartless, okay! I knew she was going to flatline because of the game, so I didn’t really care. Any of you anime only peeps crying and/or raging?

What better way to grab people’s attention than to kill off the sweetest and most innocent character of the show? Well, you can ask OC, but I had a HUGE freakout when Nanako died… I’m okay now though. Everything is okay. But wow what a way to end an episode those bastards I was not mentally or emotionally prepared for this. …I don’t think I was anywhere near this upset in the game or else I probably would have remembered how this panned out. For some reason I was convinced that she only dies in the bad ending (which is true enough but I don’t want to go into spoilers)… Anyways, uh, yeah. Nanako’s death was/will be absolutely devastating. Just wait until you see it play out on the team.

More great emotions from the team this episode. Not only Yu, but I’m also glad that they dragged out Naoto’s interactions with him rather than just leaving it as “Yeah, I care more about the investigation than you. Sorry about that.” and now that previous scene actually has relevance. I think they made Namatame look more insane as well. I mean, there were some things in the game where I was questioning why the characters weren’t listening to his rambling more, but here their impatience is more justified. I mean, I sure as hell wouldn’t listen to a guy holding a child like that.

I keep worrying about pacing and then not worrying about it. I mean, I thought that this dungeon was going to take an entire episode, but then I forgot about the aftermath about it. …I don’t know. More than anything though, I’m wondering what everyone who didn’t play the game/ knew that this was coming up thought of this whole thing. I mean, I freaked out because of it, but I know what comes next so I’m slightly consoled. Everyone else is in the dark. I-I can’t even think straight right now.

Preview: Well with Nanako out of the picture, I guess it’s Kuma’s turn to become the adorable loli of the show. ….Or not.

15 Responses to “Persona 4 – 22”

I like what they did with the fight, having Namatame’s Shadow (The love and peace t-shirt it was wearing was ridiculous) take over members of the party and fight each other, although it was pretty much all just Yuu vs everyone, just switching who was free and who was being controlled at a designated point. Having some ghost version of Dojima pop up to let him summon Kohryu to destroy the control halos was a bit over the edge of corniness though. How did that even happen?

For what looks the case being closed, none of the tension lightens up. How did that fog suddenly start taking over the town? Even more disturbing that they can see through just fine with those glasses that should only work on the Persona world. I just love how Chie has breakthroughs without even thinking about it. It makes a lot of sense, but the implications are so crazy one wouldn’t normally say it.

This was a cold way to end the episode for sure. Nanako dying with a flat line in front of everyone (even the viewers) was a shot to the gut.

Namatame’s Shadow is supposed to symbolise (SYMBLOISM!!) his false perception of himself as a saviour or a Messiah. Thus, the “I’ll save you!”s, the tacky shirt and halos. I read this in the unofficial SMT wiki somewhere, so take it with a bucket of salt.

Anyway, I agree with you on Chie, the few moments where she uses her brains instead of her feet to solve something only makes me like her more.

Nanako’s death was sad, but it serves as a catalyst for the next few crucial events. I can’t wait how they handle the next one.

…..I don’t know how Yu did that. The power of schizophrenia wins over all, I guess? Or maybe it was the power of awesome uncles. Anyways, yeah.

You know, I never realised how much this game trolled you until now. I mean, the case has been closed twice now and now the fog happens. Also, Nanako just died all of a sudden. Things are building up for the ending for sure xD

If it’s the power of schizophrenia, then a lot of psychotic anime characters would be running wild with amped up, dangerous powers.

I found that fight against Namatame’s Shadow was really rushed and lame because I believed that was the last fight and for the final boss, it was just weird because that Persona was really weak and using others to do its dirty work.

Now I need to think if Namatame was actually really saving them, if he was just a pawn and if it isn’t something like if you don’t meet your Shadow, you will die and if it’s like this then we know what basically killed Nanako.

It will be interesting to see next week how everyone will react to Nanako’s sudden death, but the most important question I have now is: Who is the real enemy?

I didn’t like it either…I can’t even recall him attacking. He could have finished them all off by attacking while controlling Yu for a double whammy. He totally didn’t hesitate to do that in the game :T Kara is right about all the trolling – it really never ends, no matter how much you think it’s the end. The culprit switched from Mitsuo to the deliveryman. The real enemy is still a big, trolololol mystery.

I really wish I could speculate with you there…but I know what happens. u_u Tis the downside of blogging a show that is an adaptation of something I know. Anyways, deciding whether Namatame was trying to save them or not is definitely something to ponder.

@Overcooled: A budget and an episode constraint can only give you so much. But I agree, they really lumped alot of things together.

I’m no fan of Naoto, but isn’t it similar in the game as well? Unless you muster a complete charge lasting the few months she appears as a Social Link, you won’t even Max her link out. I know it’s no excuse for poor writing, but I guess I’m still a bit peeved about her S.Link time in the game. Meh, maybe they’re saving the best for last (I hope).

Personally, I think that not showing the subject of the scene is a good move since it forces you to imagine it and the result is almost the same as showing the face in the first place. On the flip side though, an anime is supposed to animate and too much can ruin the intended effect. Colour me neutral for this episode, I guess.

@Karakuri: Yu? Emotion? It’s striking to look back on how you guys worried about his EQ and lack of social skills just a few months back. You can really see him grow, can’t you?

I actually got the Bad End on my first try without a walkthrough. It was, in a word, crushing. I haven’t kicked myself as hard for an in-game decision since then. How did your playthrough go, Karakuri?

Fair enough, I can relate to that. Honestly, I referred to a guide for about two-thirds of the game, mostly for the dungeon and battle sections. I left the later part of the S.Link sections alone since I got tired of spoiling the scenes.

When all is said and done though, that was (and still is) a generally great game.

You have to rush to max out her link, but the story itself is not rushed. It’s broken up into 10, reasonably-paced chunks where you see clear development each time you talk with her. The anime condensed that into like 5 minutes. :B I got close, but I never actually finished her social link because it was so close to the end (that depressed me too…)

I don’t mind focusing on inanimate objects (SHAFT is the best at this. Nisemonogatari especially) but it was done rather tastelessly in my opinion.

Also gonna chime in and echo the sentiments that Yu gaining emotions was GREAAATTTTT.

You might have a point. It was disconcerting for me at first during Bakemonogatari , but then I realised that you actually gain some info on Araragi’s (and his friends’) inner thoughts. Guess AIC can’t match up to SHAFT yet.

On Yu, too bad in the game his change isn’t as noticeable though. Or maybe…we’re the ones who’re supposed to grow emotionally…